Piracy
by Britney Black
Summary: A fanfic where all the demigods of the Percy Jackson series are pirates. This story is about Percy. He lives in a breezy little French sea town, Parlamer. Italian pirates blast into his quiet ocean side life and wreak havoc, burning and stealing. Percy is taken by the pirates annnddd...? ART BY VIRIA (I HAVE NO CLAIM, OK? SHE DID IT ALL :)
1. Chapter 1

PIRACY A Percy Jackson Fan Fiction by silvium

The gray sky swirled around Percy like oil paint mixed with water. He put his face up to the moistness of it and inhaled deeply, savoring the feel of the cool mist rushing through his lungs. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling at peace with the world, gray and cold as it was. The ocean crashed far beneath him; Percy could sense the distant vibrations through the sea-battered cliff. He opened his eyes again, stared at the dark horizon, then turned away to the chiseled steps winding down the cliff. He placed his feet with care on the slippery steps, his leather brocade flapping around in the sharp ocean wind.

Halfway down the steps, Percy paused, with both leather-clad feet on two different levels. He looked out to where his city was, a small sea town in France. It looked odd, there were flickering lights near the shore and a very large ship with many people running…there seemed to be several cannons being loaded on the ship, what was that about? A tiny figure sprinted out of a shop. He looked like he was yelling at the ship. Someone stepped off the large ship's gangway and there was a dull clap noise, the yelling civilian lurched back with a piercing screech, then dropped to the ground and didn't get back up.

Shock rippled through Percy. The noise was still echoing back to his place on the cliff. The clap of gunshot doubled, then tripled, slowed down, stretching like elastic. The man's shriek bounced off every rock, making the gravel quiver, even though the man was already dead. Then the terrified screams of the townspeople began.

A vein of anger penetrated Percy's shockwave. He unfroze from his place on the steps and, not bothering to be careful this time, scrambled down the wet stone stairs. _Someone_ was attacking his home. That was _not _okay with Percy. Panicky half-formed thoughts chased around Percy's brain like fish in a net. What about his mother? Had the attackers invaded as far into the town as their house?

He leaped over the last four steps and skidded onto the sand, spraying up a tide of the gravelly stuff. He sprinted for the town, across the cove, through a side alley, then to a main street. The street was congested with people, yelling, screaming, crying, trying to hide somewhere or charging with makeshift weapons or gleaming swords towards the attackers.

Percy went in the general direction of the ship, but detoured to his house through the sweaty crunch of people. He ran up the brick road, looking each way for his mother. He saw their house door open and his heart throbbed so hard it felt as though it nearly burst out of his chest. But then his mother emerged looking alarmed and slightly confused.

"Percy?" she said. "Thank goodness you're okay, what's going on?"

Her dark hair was tied up and her dress had smudges of flour on it, like she had been baking. Percy strode toward her saying,

"Someone's invading, I don't know who, but you need to get out of here, or get somewhere safe."

She nodded looking worried. "Don't die, Percy. Otherwise I might have to die also to ground you in the underworld." She kissed him on the cheek then hurried away. Percy didn't hesitate and ran toward the shore.


	2. Chapter 2

PIRACY CHAPTER 2

Percy arrived at the front line and saw the desperate fight. The townsfolk were no match for the seasoned pirates. The pirates fought, if they weren't fighting, burned anything that would burn, if they weren't burning, stole everything worth a dime. Percy grimly drew his sword, _Anaklusmos_, and dove into the riot.

Percy concentrated so hard that his brain just stopped working and handed the effort to muscle memory. Riptide started as a blade and now was raw carnage as he carved his anger into the Italian pirates. Any conscience he had was shoved automatically to the back of his mind. He couldn't afford mercy when these people would sooner stab him in the back then show _him_ mercy.

There was yelling, grunts of pain, screams of death, defiant swearing and the ever constant crash of the sea. Percy was getting so worked up that a storm was starting to build around him, but suddenly he realized something. Much of the sound before was gone. Most of the French sailors lay dead or wounded on the beach, their blood staining the sand crimson. The ones that were still standing were being surrounded and overtaken, bound in chains and rope. Pirates began traversing deeper into the stone town.

A gaggle of them advanced on Percy, swords drawn.

"Look at 'im, 'e's on'y a boy," one said, frowning slightly. Percy bared his teeth and was almost hissing. They chuckled and his restraint cracked. He flew at them like death's own machine and two were dead before their laughter had ceased. More pirates sprinted over as Percy attacked, red with rage but tiring.

Eventually a large pirate took a stone and got Percy on the back of his head with it. Percy's head jerked forward, he experienced severe pain and saw the Milky Way then passed out.

Pain cleaved through his head. He felt as though the spinal liquid around his brain had been set on boil. His knees ached and whined. Stinging, burning sensations steamed his shoulders.

Percy groaned and tried to move around. He was pretty sure he was lying down. He heard other faint moans and twisted his head painfully to look about. Shadowy figures quivered like water. Then a door creaked violently open and a shaft of light struck the dark room.

A pirate marched in, hobnailed boots thudding painfully on the ground. Percy tried to clutch at his head, but his hands were bound with stout ropes.

"'Ere's the lot o' 'em, sir," said a pirate. A finer set of boots boomed across the planks.

"A sorry lookin' lot, they are," he observed. "Tell the medic that when he's done up there he can come down here to clean 'em up."

"Aye aye, sir." The hobnails left. The fine boots paced around a bit more, sometimes toeing a captive. Then he too left.

Percy felt exhausted from just that episode of being awake. He felt the ocean beneath him and knew he was on the Italians' ship. He sighed, which hurt his head, then gave in to the rocking lull of the boat and blacked out again.


	3. Chapter 3

PIRACY chapter 3

Percy was roughly shaken awake and was already being dragged to his feet before he had completely woken. His head was pounding insanely. The person who held him up pulled him through a door and onto a deck. Percy's vision swam and he tried to get his bearings straight. He was definitely on a ship, the Italian pirates' ship, he could only see the pirates; there didn't seem to be any French captives around.

The pirate who gripped him stank of moldy fish and cigar smoke. He pushed Percy into a small below-deck room where there were makeshift cots everywhere with people several people lying in them. A harried looking pirate strode up to them and took Percy, who was dimly aware of what was going on, then hauled him to a cot and threw him down.

"Thank you, Benedetto, that'll be all," the harried pirate said. Percy heard the other one hurry away. When he was gone, Percy's head fell limply back. He closed his eyes, trying to make the awful head-pounding go away. He was aching all over, too. The pirate moved around him, it sounded like he was gathering something up. Percy didn't particularly care until a wet feeling came upon his shoulder, then a moment later, stung like acid.

Percy's eyes shot open and his frame twisted. He tried to make a sound, but his mouth was so parched that nothing came out. The pirate seized his arms and pinned him down, panting with effort. His eyes gleamed yellow with irritaion.

"If yeh know what's best for ye, yeh'll calm down an' let meh finish!" he said furiously. "I dunno what th' cap'n's thinkin', healin' the captives when we've alr'dy got a doz'n of us wounded."

His voice was too loud and made Percy's head throb again. He tried to clutch his head but the pirate held him down.

"Relax, boy! It's your 'ead? Lemme see it." He halfway rolled Percy over and inspected the back of Percy's head.

Percy's head felt tender and sore and the pirate's fingers weren't very kind. He kicked his feet and the pirate rolled him back over, whistling.

"Someone got you bang good in th' back of your 'ead, boy," he chuckled. "Don' warry, ole me'll fix yeh up." He chuckled again. Percy just went limp and stared at the ceiling, unable to think straight. Something was trickled into his mouth. The sour stuff dripped down his throat. Percy didn't stop it. He was just too sleepy…

Percy woke again. He felt much better. The pounding in his head was almost gone and he only felt a little sore. He opened his eyes and shifted about, looking at the dingy room. The people he could see in the cots were all resting Italians. Their olive skin glowed faintly in the warm candle light. He sat up, then paused, waiting for pain. It didn't come, so he swung his legs out of his cot, wondering where the medic-pirate had gone. His head was clearer than it had been for a while.

Percy took a few hesitant steps, a mixture of excitement and fear in the pit of his stomach. He would certainly be caught, seeing as the ship was crawling with Italians. But the temptation of breathing in ocean air and feeling the wind ruffle through his hair won him. He padded towards a door and quietly went through.

He emerged onto the dark, silent deck with the sound of the churning ocean. He closed his eyes just like he had on the cliff when the town was attacked. It seemed like so long ago. Now he was a wandering captive on an Italian pirate ship. Percy opened his eyes and sniggered, not totally sure how that was funny. Maybe he was going insane or something.

He didn't really care at this point. He just about ran to the railing, eager to see the water under the starry night sky. He leaned against the rail and droplets of water hit his face, making him smile.

The sea had such a powerful effect on him. He knew that it was probably only because he was a son of Poseidon, but he still felt the connection. The water spoke to Percy. It was a like a language that you didn't know, but you could feel the meaning behind the sound.

_I want to jump_, Percy thought. It would be so easy, he could swim back to the shore or sleep for a while. He didn't need to be on this ship.

The wind ruffled his stained nightclothes that had come from the Italians. Italians. He wondered what they wanted with him. Why had they cured him? Why was he still alive? They were pirates, weren't they? They killed, right?

Percy's head swam with questions in an ocean of curiosity. What did they want with him?

Then he froze. He could feel someone close by. The hair all down his spine rose like backwards dominoes and his cheeks tightened. There was someone _right next to him._

"Taking a nighttime stroll?" a voice asked at his shoulder.

Percy twitched and looked around with wide eyes. Somebody shorter than him stood in his shadow, right by him. How on earth had he gotten that close without Percy hearing him?

The speaker stepped next to him, staring out at the crow-black horizon. The starry reflections from the water cast a haunting light over his face. From what Percy could see, he was pale, but still with trademark Italian-olive skin. His hair looked dark and shaggy, and reflected light like silk. The face…Percy couldn't really see it, but there weren't any lines on it. He looked young.

Percy looked at the water, trying to speak, yet not sure what to say.

"I…n-needed some air I guess," he said feebly. The pirate nodded at the horizon.

"I would too if I were stuck in that sick hole," he muttered, like he were talking two himself and Percy at the same time.

Percy suddenly looked around. It seemed strange that no sentries had spotted him before.

"Who are you?" Percy asked, trying not to feel nervous. This was just another Italian, just another bloody pirate. But he gave off a sense of power and…control.

The pirate looked up at him, Percy could clearly see his face.

"I am Nico Di Angelo. The captain of this ship."


	4. Chapter 4

PIRACY chapter 4

His face was indeed young, very young, younger than Percy even. His eyes were dark like blown light bulbs with only the barest hint of life in them. His face followed the shape of his skull with no meat on it. He almost looked like he was starving. His nose was small and for some reason looked defiant to Percy, small and slightly pert. His mouth was thin and dark also. Shadows clung to him like cobwebs and crept on his face from odd angles. Any light that touched him seemed to dim slightly.

"You're the…the captain?" Percy asked, finding that surprising. Here was a kid younger than him controlling a shipful of full grown Italian bloodlusts. Though, he did give off an unmistakable atmosphere of power.

"Yes," he said, his eyes flashing dangerously. Percy figured it wouldn't be wise to ask his age.

The captain looked back at the horizon. His eyes seemed to send out shadows.

Percy didn't know what to say. The captain saved him from the task of sying something.

"What's your name?" he looked back up into my face, and I was irresistibly reminded of a younger curious child asking and older person a childish question.

"Percy. I'm Percy Jackson," I said, staring into those eyes. They looked so dead, so done. As if they had seen things that no child should ever see.

The captain nodded. "You fight well," he said unexpectedly.

Percy shrugged. "I've been training for a while."

The captain scowled and his shoulders tensed, suddenly annoyed. "Can't you just accept the compliment?" he asked irritably.

I blinked. Maybe he was having an early-teens mood swing.

"Sorry," I said uncertainly.

His shoulders relaxed a bit but the scowl remained. "You should get back to the sick room."

A rope inside Percy writhed around, pulling and twisting. Back into that dusty room? When the ocean was right there?

The captain glared at him. Percy guessed that it was not so much as a suggestion, more an order.

"Okay," I said moving away from the railing. "I go."

I started walking glumly back to the sick room.

"Wait," he said. I looked back. He seemed to be struggling intensely with something inside himself, but when he saw Percy looking, he blanked his expression.

"Yes?"

His eyes glinted darkly, with some threads of anger. "You will address me as 'sir', or 'captain'. Is that clear?"

He looked defiant, angry and annoyed. I wondered what I had done. He still looked so young, just a kid with a lot of responsibility.

"Yes…sir," I said, and despite the situation, I hid a smile.

The captain stared at me for a moment with strange intensity, then turned back to the horizon, a clear dismissal.


	5. Chapter 5

PIRACY chapter 5

Percy laid in his cot that night, thinking. The captain had been obscure. Even though Percy barely knew him, he felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility. He wanted to make sure this kid was okay, but he didn't know why.

Three days later, the ship was still sailing, and Percy had no idea where they were going. Also, he didn't know what that dark captain, Nico Di Angelo, wanted with him.

Percy had seen the captain only a couple times since he met him. The captain didn't seem to like being around so many people and often just stayed inside his cabin. Percy noticed that there never seemed to be any night sentries; yet every night he heard one or two soft footsteps from above deck.

Once, the captain had called him into his cabin. The place was dark and claustrophobic. The captain had asked Percy a few questions about himself, such as what the town he had lived in was called, how many siblings he had, was he trained in anything besides sword fighting, etc. then he dismissed Percy just like that.

That day, a dreadlocked pirate loped up to Percy.

"Cap'n says he wants yeh to help us on'a deck," he said thickly through patchy, swelled gums.

"Why?" Percy asked curiously. The ship was full of pirates, what did they need Percy for?

The pirate shrugged. "Cap'n does what cap'n wants for cap'n's reasons. He don't tell us," he clarified.

"Well…okay," Percy said uncertainly and followed the pirate out onto the sunny deck. The sky had a few clouds in it and the water was beautiful. Percy could feel the basking warmth of the sea.

"'Ere," said a very short pirate. "Tie this on'a 'ook." He tossed Percy a rope and gestured to a knob that was high up of the mast, much too high for the dwarf-like man.

Percy reached up and deftly tied a sailor's knot, feeling at ease. This was alright, he thought. Better than being stuck below.

He turned to the short pirate, awaiting more orders. The pirate was scrutinizing the knot, as if trying to find something wrong with it. In the end he turned and then thrust a barrel into Percy's arms.

"Scrub 'at out o'er thereabouts," he said roughly and jerked his head towards the bow. Percy walked away and smirked slightly to himself; the pirate hadn't been able to find anything wrong with the knot.

The whole day, Percy was out in the sunshine, soaking it in and doing menial tasks for the pirates. They weren't great about it, they criticized him for the smallest thing, he wasn't walking fast enough, he wasn't being careful enough, etc. Occasionally, one would purposely bump into him and knock out whatever was in his hands, roaring, "Watch where yeh're goin', boy!"

Percy would just silently pick up the object, or in some cases, mop it up, and continue with his task, trying not to get too nettled.

When night fell, Percy was ready for some sleep. The day had darkened quickly, the clouds had gotten thicker and the air and sea felt restless.

Percy climbed into his cot (he was _still_ sleeping that awful sick room) and gazed at the ceiling without seeing, feeling glazed with tiredness. He rolled over and shut his eyes, trying not to think about the morning.

However, Percy awoke quite some time before the morning.

The ship was rolling and tipping violently. He could feel the sea's mixed anger and annoyance and pure need to storm about. The ship tipped abruptly, and Percy fell out of his cot, and went sliding across the wooden planks, picking up a dozen splinters.

Surprised yells drifted from the pirates' cabins. Then the storm bell was sounded.

Percy struggled upright, and clawed his way to the door, the bell ringing hollowly in the sick room. He wasn't scared a bit, just tired. It wasn't like he could die from the water. In fact, it might just be safer to jump the rail.

When Percy emerged on deck, it was slippery with salty water. The pirates were all holding on to anything grounded; the mast, the rails. He wasn't really sure where to grab onto; the pirates were everywhere. In the end, he compromised, and seized a large peg sticking out of the floor.

The pirates were all shouting incoherently, but Percy heard one voice yell,

"Cap'n!"

His head whipped about. Nico Di Angelo was crawling out of his cabin, buffeted and pressed down by the wind. He forced himself up and hung onto the doorframe, with those eyes opened wide, and awake with fear.

The ocean sprayed up, drenching everybody. Percy decided to let the water soak him, after all, he hadn't bathed in too long.

The cruelly freezing wind screamed around them, kicking the ocean into a frenzy of massive waves that crashed down on the pirates.

Percy hadn't felt any fear that whole time. This was the ocean, this was a part of him. But he tasted fear when the first lightning bolt struck.


	6. Chapter 6

PIRACY chapter 6

The lightning hit the mast. It cracked down the middle with a sharp creaky rip noise. The pirates who had been holding onto it yelled and screamed in shock, scrambling away from the mast as it swayed tipsily. Percy gazed up at the sky, fearful of another shot of lightning. The mast crashed down through the ship, partially crunching it. The sound of splintering wood was everywhere.

The sky wasn't finished. It made a sound like either ripping paper then a clap, or someone bitch-slapping somebody else. The electric light snaked down in a deadly snarl and hit the stern.

It was too much for the boat. I could feel it giving in and water began to rush up through the tears in the keel. Water sloshed everywhere, the sky was crackling and rumbling but no more lightning came. Percy let go of the protruding hook and clambered over a muddle of pirates to the rail. Other pirates were doing the same thing; preparing to jump. Percy flung himself over the broken railing into the sea.

He sank sweetly, and instantly felt energized and calmer as he listened as though from a great distance to the panic still going on above. There were splashes in the water as pirates jumped in. Percy slowly dove down and watched from underneath. He was not quite sure why he lingered by the sinking ship, all he knew was that he could not swim away.

His vision wasn't good enough underwater to see much of what was going on above the surface, so he swam upward until his head broke through.

The ship was completely wrecked, pirates flailed wildly in the mess, drowning or close to it. Percy didn't exactly like watching them die, but these were the people who had killed others in his little town. He knew that soon the ship would cause a sort of water vortex that would pull everything nearby in with it. But he didn't swim away. He darted through the drifting pieces of wood as the sky growled above him. He looked up nervously, wondering if Zeus had done that to him on purpose.

Suddenly Percy zeroed in on something. There was a pale, struggling and petrified face attempting to swim away from the ship. Their hair hung glossy, dark and wet. Those eyes…they were alive with terror. Dark, but shaken awake. Percy knew who's eyes they were. It was the captain, Nico di Angelo, drowning.

Percy's mouth opened in shock. In all the muddle, Percy hadn't thought for a moment about the captain. The captain who controlled a large ship, who controlled dozens of full grown adults, the captain, who was younger than Percy. Just a…really, he was just a kid with way too much to think about, to supervise, to control. He was only a kid. This wasn't right.

Not thinking about anything, Percy swam urgently toward him and willed the currents to speed him along. He pushed wood and bits of rope and metal out of the way. He raised his eyes out of the water for a moment and saw the ex-captain struggling to remove his thick coat that was dragging him down, choking. Percy dove through the water like an arrow and slammed into Nico di Angelo. The kid freaked out for a moment and squirmed like crazy. Percy put his head and neck out of the water, fastening his arms around the small body. Nico kicked and struggled in Percy's arms. Percy just tightened them and tried to see Nico's face. The water splashed in his eyes and he flipped his hair out of his face. Just then Nico's face looked down at the same time and their eyes met. Nico's widened with surprise or fear, Percy couldn't tell, but he stopped trying to kill Percy. He shuddered, hacking and coughing, then became a dead weight in Percy's arms. A skeletal hand yanked a rope inside of Percy, but he pushed the feeling away and swam, just swam away with his limp passenger.


	7. Chapter 7

PIRACY chapter 7 THIS IS SORT OF A SEASON FINALE (don't worry…I'm making another 'season'/book/whatever the hell this is)

Percy couldn't remember how long he had been swimming but he was tiring. That he knew. Nico hadn't moved at all. Percy just kept determinedly swimming through the rocking ocean water. His clothes billowed about him and the storm was still rumbling above. It began to rain fat, round tears.

To Percy's shock, he saw an island ahead. It was very small, but there were trees and plants and other wildlife. He paddled faster and harder, his last spurt to get to the island. His feet found the sandy bottom of the ocean floor. He slopped out of the water, exhausted and soaking. He was so tired he couldn't make himself dry.

He emerged on the island and, gently as possible, set Nico down. He still wasn't moving.

Percy shook his dripping hair out of his eyes and fell next to Nico on his knees. A cold feeling gripped his brain, a cold sinking feeling like he was drowning, a new feeling to Percy. Now he understood why people feared drowning so much.

He stared at Nico's pallid face. His cheeks looked waxy and the kid was rubbery freezing. His wet clothes stuck to his chest that looked so thin.

Percy stared at his face. He wanted to pull back an eyelid but was to terrified of what was underneath. He tore his eyes away from Nico's face and seized his wrist, feeling for a pulse. He waited, feeling numb. There was a very, very faint pulse. It was barely there. Percy's face drained of blood and he leaned down to Nico's chest, putting his ear over the kid's heart. Percy rested his head there, waiting for the heartbeat. He wasn't sure if it would come, but several freezing moments later, Percy heard it. It was something he could barely hear, and he almost couldn't feel it. The space in between the heartbeats was too long. Was he even breathing?

Percy's hands shook as he raised one and held it over Nico's mouth. He waited…and waited…and…

He almost gave up. But then the faintest, shallowest breath came from the thin dark lips. His air was running out.

Percy hesitated, then leaned over the ex-captain. He looked at that face again, Nico's eyes were still shut.

Percy sucked a great breath in and leaned closer to Nico. One hand was by Nico's shoulder, supporting Percy's weight, the other was balled uncertainly.

When Percy nearly put his lips onto the other boy's, Nico coughed. He coughed again and Percy pulled back slightly. He kept coughing violently. He curled on his side and hacked. Water flew from his mouth as he shuddered. He retched a wave of water, coughed some last droplets out, then opened his eyes, shaking with the occasional cough.

Eyes like dark windows of an abandoned house found diamond-faceted emerald eyes.

Percy stared at him. The hands that had held that rope inside him taut relaxed, the dam broke, and Percy was flooded with such relief that he got light-headed. He smiled weakly at Nico, who looked even more surprised, as if no one had ever smiled at him before.

Percy was still leaning close over Nico. He sat back on his heels, and bright color shaded Nico's neck and cheeks. Percy assumed that he was getting a little warmer, recovering from the shipwreck.

Nico coughed again, and seemed unable to stop staring at Percy.

"You – y," he cleared his throat, and said in a smoother voice, "you saved me. Why did you do that?"

Percy's eyebrows scrunched a bit. Why _had_ he saved the ex-captain? The one who captured him and killed his townspeople?

Percy knew why, but he decided not to tell Nico exactly why. He was young, sad, messed up, and Percy thought he deserved another chance. He had been exposed to carnage and death and blood at a way too early age, assuming he had been sailing with pirates even before Percy's town.

"I just," Percy said slowly, choosing his words very carefully, "I guess I couldn't see you die. You still have a life ahead of you. The others – they were already sort of ruined."

Percy could have sworn that the oddest expression of hope had dashed across Nico's face at one point. But it was gone now, covered by a blank mask.

"Thank you," Nico said quietly, finally looking away, at the sea. "I would have drowned and died there." His words carried something else, like a bitter unfinished sentence.

Suddenly Nico's eyes snapped back to Percy. "But how did _you _survive? How did you swim so far? Why didn't you drown too?"

He was sitting up on the gritty sand now. Percy's eyes drooped slightly, but he looked at Nico and said, "Nico, do you believe in gods?"

Nico's eyes held bright intensity. "Yes," he breathed. There were dark rings under his shattered eyes.

"Well…the gods had kids. With mortals. They're called_"

"Demigods," Nico interrupted. "Are you a son of Poseidon?"

Percy hadn't expected Nico to know so much at once. He blinked and said, a little dumbly, "Yeah."

Nico nodded, looking almost satisfied.

"What about you?" Percy asked, feeling a bit reckless. Nico's eyes glittered dangerously and he didn't answer.

Exhaustion swept over Percy. He didn't care anymore. He flopped down on the sand, the stuff uncomfortably itchy on his thin nightclothes. He fell asleep within minutes.

Percy awoke the next day with his mouth feeling horrible. It was dry, so dry, it felt like it was swelling up. There were bits of sand all over his face and caking his limbs. He opened his sticky eyes that were so thick with _something_, that he could barely see. He stumbled, half-blind, to the water and plunged in. It was euphoria. He floated peacefully for a second, then began vigorously scrubbing himself. The salty water didn't bother his eyes as he rubbed the goo out of them. When he felt moderately clean, he willed his clothes to dry, feeling energized by the water. Then he walked out of the sea and looked around the beach.

The sand was, well, sandy. It wasn't white, but more yellowish. Sand gave way to plant life, palm trees, bushes, flowers. The sky was overcast, but the storm looked like it had moved farther away. Suddenly Percy remembered. _Nico._

Percy scrambled up the beach, searching for him. He found him quickly, still sleeping where Percy left him. He sighed with relief and plopped down next to the bent figure.

After about one minutes, Percy was very bored and he shook Nico awake. The ex-captain's eye's squished open and peered blearily at Percy. He tried to speak, but his mouth was dry, like Percy's had been. He sat up fast, sending sand up. He slid slightly as he tripped over rocks to the ocean. Like Percy again, he dove in. Percy saw the water ripple where Nico was scrubbing the sand off himself.

A few minutes later, Nico emerged from the ocean, dripping and soaked.

"Argh," he mumbled, taking his coat off. "This is…" he trailed off.

He looked at Percy, scowling. "How are you dry?" he demanded.

Percy grinned and laced his hands behind his head. "There's some perks to being a son of Poseidon, apart from being drowning-proof."

Nico looked moody and looked around for where to hand his brocade up.

"I can dry you," Percy offered. "If you want."

Nico shot a sideways glance at him then looked back at his dripping coat. "How does it work?" he muttered.

Percy grinned again and said, "Like this."

He got up a walked to Nico, his hand outstretched. Nico backed up so fast, he tripped.

"Hey – hey wait, I didn't say - !"

Percy reached out and touched Nico on the shoulder. He was instantly dry.

"See?" Percy said. "No biggie."

Nico looked down at his dry self, and his cheeks glowed a little, but he just hunched his shoulders and muttered, "Don't touch me ever again."

"Oh…uh, okay" Percy said uncertainly, looking around again, then said loudly, "_Hey!_ Look, Nico, it's a ship!"

Nico looked up, scowling again. His dead eyes widened.

The ship was very close and seemed to be heading for the island. It was a small ship, but Percy was excited.

"Maybe they'll get us off here," he said hopefully.

Nico looked at him strangely. "But you can just swim away."

"I don't know where the closest land is, besides these weird little islands. And what about you? I can't just leave you here to die, man."

Nico's scowl deepened and Percy realized that what he said was kind of untactful.

"I wouldn't _die_. I can take care of myself," he said irritably. Percy was about to say more when he heard people on the ship yelling.

Percy and Nico automatically looked around. Someone on the ship was waving their arms around at them. His hair glinted in the feeble sunlight.

The ship pulled up with a huge scraping noise, making the water slosh around. Someone stood at the bow, waiting for them.

Nico and Percy walked cautiously toward the ship. The person leaned on the rail, looking at them, then climbed off the ship, and jumped down to the wet sand. Percy and Nico tensed as the stranger walked up to them, smiling wearily.

"Hello there," he said. His voice was pleasant, but battered and tired.

"Who are you?" Nico asked suspiciously. The guy looked about Percy's age.

"This is my ship, _Thunder Queen,_" he said, as if he felt the need to introduce his ship too. "And I'm the captain without a crew. Jason Grace," he said, sticking out his hand.


	8. Chapter 812

PIRACY chapter one.2 (- the '.2' part is just so you know what book/season you're on:)

"Percy Jackson," Percy said, taking Jason's hand. His hands felt like he sword fought a lot. Jason held his hand out to Nico.

"Nico di Angelo," he muttered, but didn't shake Jason's hand. Percy knew he didn't like physical contact with people. Percy tried to shoot Jason an apologetic glance and said, to break up the awkward ice,

"Where're you from, Jason? How did you even get here?"  
Jason shook his head wearily. "Well, I got blown here by that huge storm, what was it, last night? Which is ironic, seeing as – "

Jason broke off, like he had almost spilled a secret. Nico looked like he knew what the secret might be, but Jason kept going.

"As for where I'm from," he said, and grinned wickedly. "Rome."

Percy's eyes widened. "Really?" he asked.

"Yep," Jason said proudly. "I am – well, was praetor. But then…" he gestured around. "Got blown off course."

Nico frowned. "You're a roman praetor and you were on a ship?"

Jason shrugged. "The legion wanted to see about some oversea routes, and fighting. Spain and Portugal have been sailing around and getting good stuff, so we wanted to try it too." He gestured around uselessly. "Didn't work out great."

"Yeah," said Percy. "Guess not. We got shipwrecked." He waved his hand at Nico and himself. "That's how we got here."

Jason nodded. "When I saw you two standing here, I figured that I may as well land. I needed a break anyway. Do you guys want to go back to the mainland with me?"

Percy nodded vigorously. "Yes please," he said. Nico looked away and said nothing. Percy didn't care. He was coming whether he wanted to or not.

"Can I have a look around the ship?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Jason said. "Make yourself at, er, ship-home."

Percy grinned then jogged through the ankle-deep surf and climbed aboard. Halfway up, he glanced back at Jason and Nico. Nico looked moody, with hunched shoulders and shuffling feet. Jason looked more relaxed, but tense too, like he was strapped to a board. Percy looked away and mounted the ship.

Her sails looked weather-beaten but in good shape. The mast was sturdy, the planks underfoot were devoid of rot, the cabins were clean and smelled nice, there were fine trinkets strewn about. It was a very nice ship. Percy wondered how Jason had gotten it, being Roman and all. And he wondered how Jason had been blown off course by the storm, and the ship seemed to be in perfect condition, like the storm had gently, paternally scooted him away.


End file.
